Sarasota-Based Firm's Smart Design Finds Support In Congressional Opioid Crisis Legislation
SARASOTA, Fla. (PRWEB) May 03, 2018 -- Last week, ROBRADY’s delegation traveled to the Capitol for three days of dialogue with government officials who stand on the front lines of the opioid addiction crisis. Their objective to increase awareness and support of PILL, a smart blister pack dispenser, was met with great enthusiasm from various top-level agencies as the device exemplifies the current thinking reflected in bipartisan legislation currently being fast-tracked through congress.
The PILL team met first with Health and Human Services to discuss how the smart dispenser’s closed-loop system addresses potential misuse or overdose by allowing access to medication only at appropriate times—as prescribed by a physician and dispensed by a pharmacist. A digital timer on the dispenser keeps patients constantly informed of the time between doses.
PILL also collects data on patient behavior during treatment which can be used to track compliance, populate the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), and be compiled with other data to identify trends among the larger population.
An idea that’s evolved over six years, the innovative PILL smart dispenser is well-timed to the government’s strategy for dealing with a crisis which now claims over 120 lives and nearly $220M on a daily basis. The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 just passed unanimously from committee containing forty bipartisan proposals including a mandate for package redesign to help prevent abuse and overdose. As explained by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. in a statement earlier this year, “We’re also actively exploring how we can use changes in packaging as a way to give providers better options for tailoring how much they prescribe to the clinical need.”
During the PILL team’s time in Washington, they also discussed collaborative possibilities with the FDA for testing PILL to gain the clearest picture yet of its efficacy as well any potential areas for refinement. Based on CDC metrics, even at 10% effectiveness, forecasts suggest that PILL’s ability to prevent deaths from overdose and addiction could mean a daily savings of over $22 million to the economy.
“Design thinking, defined as having empathy for the total context of the problem, produces genuinely innovative solutions,” explains ROBRADY CEO and Design Director Rob Brady. “The acute interest we’re seeing from Washington is validation of that—in PILL you have a product with a high potential for effectively and economically addressing the key factors in the deadly opioid addiction crisis.”
Rounding out the delegation’s three-day schedule were meetings with members of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and with representatives for Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lamar Alexander.
Bolstered by the strong, positive reception key government agencies as well as legislation that will mandate their approach to the opioid addiction crisis, ROBRADY continues to seek strategic partners as it takes PILL into the next stages of development with the goal of production for clinical testing and, ultimately, widespread adoption.
About ROBRADY design:
ROBRADY design is a multi-disciplined product design and development studio that offers its global client base progressive industrial design; mechanical, electrical, and software engineering; graphic and interactive digital design; market insights; brand and retail development; complete rapid prototyping; and production program management.
ROBRADY design delivers comprehensive speed-to-market product solutions to start-ups as well as the Fortune 100 by collaborating to identify the greatest areas of opportunity and producing innovative designs that drive profitable results. ROBRADY provides design, production, and capital solutions to clients in support of their research to reality philosophy.
Jennifer Jensen, ROBRADY design, http://www.robrady.com, +1 (941) 359-6656, [email protected]
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